Note: This information was updated at 8:48 p.m. to reflect new information regarding damage to structures and injury to one firefighter.
April 9, 2012
(Ridge, N.Y.) – As of 7:30 p.m., here are additional details on the brush fire at Ridge and Manorville:
Three sides of the fire have now been contained. An additional side of the fire, the east side, has not been contained.
Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone is at the scene, and coordinating efforts with the New York State governor’s office, the National Guard and local officials.
Three firefighters who responded to the fire have been taken to Stony Brook University Medical Center; one firefighter suffered burns, two are being treated for smoke inhalation.
Two residential homes and one commercial building were destroyed, and one residential building was damaged from fire.
Residents on the periphery of the fire should expect the possibility that electricity will be turned off during the response.
Additionally, the Long Island Railroad reports there will be temporary service interruptions on these lines:
Ronkonkoma Branch:
The 6:53PM train from Ronkonkoma due Greenport at 8:17PM, will only operate as far as Yaphank Station. Customers traveling to points east of Yaphank can transfer to bus service at Ronkonkoma Station. This service change is because of a brush fire east of Yaphank.
Montauk Branch:
The 6:30PM train from Patchogue due Babylon at 7:03PM, is operating 23 minutes late because of congestion caused by an earlier delayed eastbound train, and experiencing equipment trouble in the station.
The 5:09PM train from Penn due Speonk at 7:13PM, is operating 23 minutes late after being held in Sayville Station because of congestion caused by a delayed westbound train.
Buses will replace trains between Speonk and Montauk for 72 hours this Tuesday through Friday due to the rehabilitation of three RR bridges in Hampton Bays. The schedule changes will affect both peak and off-peak customers. The tracks will be taken out of service from 2:13 AM Tues to 2:30 AM Friday, April 10-13. Similar outages are scheduled for April 17-20, and April 24-27. See http://bit.ly/IzcYsf for details.
During each 72-hour outage, eastbound trains will terminate at Speonk and buses will carry customers to destinations east to Montauk. Westbound travelers between Montauk and Hampton Bays will be bused from their home station to Speonk and there board trains to points west.